Multidimensional numerical scheme for resistive relativistic magnetohydrodynamics

Abstract

The paper describes a new upwind conservative numerical scheme for special relativistic resistive magnetohydrodynamics with scalar resistivity. The magnetic field is kept approximately divergence free and the divergence of the electric field is kept consistent with the electric charge distribution via the method of Generalized Lagrange Multiplier. The hyperbolic fluxes are computed using the Harten-Lax-van Leer (HLL) prescription and the source terms are accounted via the time-splitting technique. The results of test simulations show that the scheme can handle equally well both resistive current sheets and shock waves, and thus can be a useful tool for studying phenomena of relativistic astrophysics that involve both colliding supersonic flows and magnetic reconnection. © 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 RAS.